So what does it look like to cross the line as a coach? Well how about this, you spent all week preparing for the game, you’ve practiced, you’ve developed a game plan, you’re ready for your opponents, and your players are ready to get out there as well. But, when you finally do kick off, everything starts to go wrong! Why? Because the players aren’t doing what you’ve practiced all week! You spent all week working on how to win the game, and now you’re players screwing it up! Of course your upset, this is important, it could even be your career on line in some cases. So how do you react? You could start to yell at your team, obviously they didn’t get the message the first time, so you need to ‘remind’ them how to do their jobs. However, while that may be cathartic, it’s really not helping at all! Remember that crossing the line and being angry at your own players isn’t going to do anyone any good in the long run. In fact, by yelling at them you’re setting a bad example, and you’re making sure that everyone around you knows that you are off your game. Instead of focusing on yelling at your team or a player that may be playing poorly, try and think about what you can do to change the outcome of the game. Maybe you need to make a sub, or maybe you need to make a tactical change to help your team get back on track. That’s what coaching is all about, adapting to challenges. View these setbacks as a challenge that will make you a better coach in the long run. At the end of the day it is all about the process of getting better as a team and as individuals, sometimes you need to face adversity to achieve this goal. Harassing your players, and making them feel bad about themselves because they did not play well is only going to hurt the team in the long term, as you could end up damaging their confidence and love of the game!